Romo triggers Cowboys
Miami hopes to pressure QB who tore up Giants last Sunday
By Carl Kotala
news-press.com sports bureau
DAVIE — Joey Porter puts Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in some pretty elite company.
“He reminds me of a young Brett Favre,” the Miami Dolphins’ linebacker said.
Porter and the Miami defense have a lot to fear when Romo and the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense comes to Dolphin Stadium on Sunday. But the biggest aspect of Romo’s game is also the part they’re hoping to take advantage of.
“He’s got that young, gunslinger mentality — just the way he carries the ball,” Porter said. “He carries it low. He just wants to throw the ball. He wants to make plays and he’s going to sit in the pocket longer than he’s supposed to.
“I like that. He’s going to be that quarterback who’s going to give his receivers that extra chance to try to make a play. Hopefully, he’ll hold it long enough for the defense to get to him.”
The New York Giants couldn’t get to Romo last Sunday. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns as Dallas defeated New York 45-35 in the season-opener.
Each of Romo’s completions went for 10 or more yards, and his 14.38 yards-per-attempt average was the third-best single-game total in Cowboy history. All but one of those completions went for a first down.
It was the most complete game in Romo’s career and a great way to start off his first full season as Dallas’ starter.
Romo’s detractors will note that he got off to a hot start last season when he replaced Drew Bledsoe, only to stumble down the stretch. Dallas lost three of its last four games in 2006 and there was, of course, the infamous bobbled snap on the potential game-winning field goal in the first round of the playoffs.
Well, Romo’s holding days are over. And he spent the offseason working on his game.
“I just think I tried to be more consistent as a whole,” Romo said during a conference call. “I tried to look at things that I did ... if I did something once, OK. But if something happened twice, or three times, those were the things I was going to look at and try to fix.”
New Dallas coach Wade Phillips, a defensive guru, didn’t work with Romo personally in the offseason. That was left to first-year offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, a former Dolphins quarterbacks coach, who spent time working with Romo on cleaning up the technical aspects of his game.
But that doesn’t mean that Phillips hasn’t been impressed with how much time his Pro Bowl quarterback has put in at the team’s practice facility.
“You didn’t have to tell him to work to do things,” Phillips said. “He was here all the time. That’s what I noticed. Some players feel like they need to get better. Others read the press clippings. ... He’s worked hard and he’s a good leader.”
Watching Romo on tape, Miami has been impressed with his elusiveness and quick release, traits that won’t make him an easy target even if he does hold onto the ball a little longer than he should.
“I haven’t really seen tape on him until this week, and I’m impressed,” Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas said. “He makes a lot of things happen because he’s so good in the pocket. You get good pressure on him, he makes the guy miss and then it makes it tough in coverage because he can scramble around, and that is where he causes problems.”
By Carl Kotala
news-press.com sports bureau
DAVIE — Joey Porter puts Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in some pretty elite company.
“He reminds me of a young Brett Favre,” the Miami Dolphins’ linebacker said.
Porter and the Miami defense have a lot to fear when Romo and the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense comes to Dolphin Stadium on Sunday. But the biggest aspect of Romo’s game is also the part they’re hoping to take advantage of.
“He’s got that young, gunslinger mentality — just the way he carries the ball,” Porter said. “He carries it low. He just wants to throw the ball. He wants to make plays and he’s going to sit in the pocket longer than he’s supposed to.
“I like that. He’s going to be that quarterback who’s going to give his receivers that extra chance to try to make a play. Hopefully, he’ll hold it long enough for the defense to get to him.”
The New York Giants couldn’t get to Romo last Sunday. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns as Dallas defeated New York 45-35 in the season-opener.
Each of Romo’s completions went for 10 or more yards, and his 14.38 yards-per-attempt average was the third-best single-game total in Cowboy history. All but one of those completions went for a first down.
It was the most complete game in Romo’s career and a great way to start off his first full season as Dallas’ starter.
Romo’s detractors will note that he got off to a hot start last season when he replaced Drew Bledsoe, only to stumble down the stretch. Dallas lost three of its last four games in 2006 and there was, of course, the infamous bobbled snap on the potential game-winning field goal in the first round of the playoffs.
Well, Romo’s holding days are over. And he spent the offseason working on his game.
“I just think I tried to be more consistent as a whole,” Romo said during a conference call. “I tried to look at things that I did ... if I did something once, OK. But if something happened twice, or three times, those were the things I was going to look at and try to fix.”
New Dallas coach Wade Phillips, a defensive guru, didn’t work with Romo personally in the offseason. That was left to first-year offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, a former Dolphins quarterbacks coach, who spent time working with Romo on cleaning up the technical aspects of his game.
But that doesn’t mean that Phillips hasn’t been impressed with how much time his Pro Bowl quarterback has put in at the team’s practice facility.
“You didn’t have to tell him to work to do things,” Phillips said. “He was here all the time. That’s what I noticed. Some players feel like they need to get better. Others read the press clippings. ... He’s worked hard and he’s a good leader.”
Watching Romo on tape, Miami has been impressed with his elusiveness and quick release, traits that won’t make him an easy target even if he does hold onto the ball a little longer than he should.
“I haven’t really seen tape on him until this week, and I’m impressed,” Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas said. “He makes a lot of things happen because he’s so good in the pocket. You get good pressure on him, he makes the guy miss and then it makes it tough in coverage because he can scramble around, and that is where he causes problems.”
posted by The Gryphon at 10:19 AM
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